Scary Stories For A Rainy Night - Ep. 408 - Rusty Nails

Summary

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Scary Stories For A Rainy Night – Ep. 408 – "Rusty Nails"

Host: Being Scared
Date: June 19, 2026

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Overview

Episode 408 of "Scary Stories and Rain" delivers a chilling mix of eerie, allegedly true personal accounts, narrated in the calm, storybook tone that fans have come to love. Set to a subtle rain ambience, the host shares a string of unsettling experiences—from haunted mall nights and sinister home intrusions to near-miss encounters in the wilderness and a brush with tragedy in small-town Colorado. Each tale is selected for its unnerving twists and lingering sense of dread, perfect for sleepless listeners craving some late-night thrills.

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Key Stories and Discussion Points

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1. The Haunted Mall Baker – Toledo, Ohio

Timestamps: Story starts [02:10] | Escalates [04:40] | Escape [07:19]

Summary:
The host recounts a personal experience working late-night bakery shifts in a seemingly haunted mall. While alone, they hear motion-activated kiddie rides spring to life in the pitch darkness of a deserted food court—a carousel spinning eerily, an unexplained silhouette, and a chilling close encounter with something posing as a security guard.

Details:

• The food court’s rides activate, despite there being no one else inside.
• The host describes locking eyes with an unmoving figure beside the carousel, noting its strange stillness and odd behavior compared to normal security.
• Upon checking their phone for a split second, the figure appears much closer—now just five feet away.
• Host escapes to a locked stock room, only to hear playful, childlike footsteps and clicking sounds right outside, as if “it knew where I was but couldn’t get to me.”
• Later, the host realizes the deadbolt was already unlocked, contradicting their memory.

Notable Quote:

“It was like they stopped just before the door and started to walk in place—as if it knew where I was but couldn’t get to me.”
— Host ([09:30])

Chilling Detail:

• The supernatural is presented as mundane yet deeply threatening, especially in the liminal, empty spaces of the mall at night.

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2. The Mocking Hag in the Bathroom – Tennessee

Timestamps: Story begins [08:30] | Voice encounter [11:35]

Summary:
As a child, the storyteller experiences recurring strange phenomena in their family’s duplex—lights and the TV flickering without reason. One afternoon, alone in the house, they follow rustling noises into their parents’ bathroom, only to hear their own words thrown back at them in the cackling voice of an “old hag.”

Details:

• The sense of being watched, especially from the closet.
• Parental dismissal of the child’s fears as a dream or faulty wiring.
• The entity’s voice: “Mom? Dad, is that you?”—but repeated back in a mocking, rotten tone.
• The child, panicked, flees to the porch and refuses to go back inside.

Notable Quote:

“I heard what sounded like a cackle, like a rotten snicker. And then what I can only describe as an old hag’s voice. It repeated back my words, only in a mocking fashion: ‘Mom? Dad, is that you?’ Then it cackled again.”
— Storyteller ([11:36])

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3. Strangers on the Porch – Suburban Intrusion

Timestamps: Setup [13:30] | Encounter [16:30]

Summary:
A young man home alone notices a strange car idling in the dark outside. A man with grocery bags approaches his porch, then flees when he realizes he’s being watched. The intruder and his accomplice drive away, leaving the storyteller anxious and alert for the rest of the night.

Insights:

• The incident is processed rationally—debating whether to call 911 or use the non-emergency line.
• Reveals the importance of household safety measures (keeping a police number accessible).
• The parents surmise that the empty driveway made the home a target.

Host’s Inner Monologue:

“I often wonder what would have happened if I didn’t decide to look out my door when I did. Would I have had to fight off robbers? Did they have weapons just in case? I guess I’ll never know.”
— Storyteller ([22:50])

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4. Creepy River Hiker Encounter

Timestamps: Arrival at river [23:00] | Initial contact [24:50] | Physical confrontation [26:00]

Summary:
A 19-year-old woman goes hiking alone along a riverside trail. She is approached twice by an older man who, after being rebuffed, grabs her tank top and tries to detain her, only letting go when she pulls away forcefully.

Key Points:

• The section highlights the vulnerability of solo hikers, especially women.
• Tension escalates as the man becomes more aggressive, underscoring a near-miss with potentially darker consequences.

Notable Reflection:

“I was terrified but had been glad that I had my pocket knife in my hand in case he tried anything drastic. I have never hiked alone since.”
— Storyteller ([26:45])

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5. The Bridge in Colorado – Childhood Memory Unveiled

Timestamps: Recollection [27:30] | Parental explanation [33:00]

Summary:
The storyteller recounts a childhood walk in a small Colorado town. Years later, augmented by a memory supplement, they recall a mysterious biker sitting on a bridge—only to discover from their father that he was actually sitting next to a deceased stranger, pretending to conversationally engage until the kids were out of earshot, before alerting authorities.

Key Details:

• Small-town setting, family vacation, and the innocence of youth—juxtaposed with adult horror.
• The father's protective improvisation creates a surreal, haunting family anecdote.

Notable Quote:

“In order to conceal the fact that this man was probably no longer alive, [my dad] sat down next to the body and carried on a one-sided conversation with it until we were out of earshot.”
— Storyteller ([34:05])

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6. Fourth of July, The Missing Friend, and SWAT Team Chaos

Timestamps: Story starts [36:50] | Disappearance [39:50] | SWAT raid [41:19] | Rescue [47:00]

Summary:
An account from a man named Todd describes a chaotic Fourth of July weekend at a remote cabin. After heated arguments, the host’s friend Troy goes missing. As suspicions flare and three days pass without word, a SWAT team storms the cabin, suspecting Todd of wrongdoing. Ultimately, Troy is found alive—stranded, hypothermic, but rescued by helicopter.

Key Points:

• Interpersonal drama and misunderstandings escalate into a full-blown missing person investigation.
• The tension and paranoia build until the dramatic helicopter rescue resolves the story.

Memorable Moment:

“At one point, one of the SWAT officers said, ‘I will kill you and I will kill the dog.’ Upon hearing that, Ace suddenly popped his face up from the floor and exclaimed, ‘Why would you do that?’”
— Storyteller ([41:35])

Host’s Observation:

• The story blends horror with dark humor, ending on a note of irreversible change among the friend group.

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• On enigmatic threats:
  “Fun fact about the counter of our shop: it’s not tall. I, standing at 6’4”, could essentially step over it… After closing up shop, I was now essentially standing on an island with only one route of escape if this creep decided to jump the counter.”
  — Host ([04:53])

• On rational vs. irrational fear:
  “I knew calling 911 would be a mistake. After all, they’re gone. I don’t feel in danger. I can’t identify them, and even if I could, they technically didn’t do anything illegal.”
  — Storyteller ([18:10])

• The weight of parental protection:
  “He sat down next to this man’s body and carried on a one-sided conversation with it until we were out of earshot...”
  — Storyteller ([34:05])

• Moments of humor amid the terror:
  “At one point, one of the SWAT officers said, ‘I will kill you and I will kill the dog.’ Upon hearing that, Ace suddenly popped his face up from the floor and exclaimed, ‘Why would you do that?’”
  — Storyteller ([41:35])

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Structure & Tone

• The episode weaves together stories that move fluidly from supernatural fright to real-world dread.
• Rain ambience adds an immersive, cozy-yet-unnerving backdrop.
• The host’s narration remains calm, empathetic, and direct—inviting listeners to feel as though they are being told a scary story by an old friend on a stormy night.
• The tone alternates between somber, reflective, and, at moments, darkly comic.

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Conclusion

“Rusty Nails”—Episode 408—carries through the central promise of "Scary Stories and Rain": captivating listeners with haunting tales that blur the lines between paranormal and plausible danger. Each story is crafted to leave the audience questioning their own late-night noises and second-guessing brief, innocuous glances out their own door. The episode stands out for its range—from ghostly mimicry and unnerving strangers, to the somber unraveling of tragic misunderstandings, all tied together by Being Scared’s signature narration and the steady patter of rain overhead.

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Transcript

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Hey, before this episode begins, I just want to let everyone know that my film that I've been producing for the last two years, Gale Yellow Brick Road, is now streaming on Chilling. So if you weren't able to go see it in theaters a couple months ago, no worries. Click the link in the description to this video or just search Chilling in your app store and you can watch Gale Yellow Brick Road tonight at home. I really hope you enjoy. Please leave an honest rating and review on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes. Thanks again. Hey, welcome back to the podcast. I really hope you enjoy this episode and if you'd like to hear more stories like these with a different background sound, please check the description to check out my other two podcasts. And if you want to get rid of all of the ads, you can subscribe for just $2.99 a month. Last thing I really appreciate you being here and I'd really love if you would follow the podcast and come back again soon. Thank you so much. I hope you enjoy. A few summers ago, I worked at a mall in Toledo, Ohio, a pretty big city nestled right up against the west end of Lake Erie. I was very concerned about money at the time and I wanted to work as much as possible in order to save up for an apartment, my first major purchase. To do that, I took a job at the Great American Cookies Shop in the mall's food court, which had been around since before I was born, and to get some more bang for my buck, I worked there at night. For those who don't know, a lot of bakeries and coffee shops will often hire a baker to come in at dead of night in order to make all the pastries and treats for the morning. They'll come in around 3am and just bake for hours on end. That was exactly what I did. I pounded out cookie cakes and put cookies in the oven until the sun came up, and then I stayed even longer to make some more money. It was actually really cozy and relaxing between the heat from the oven, the silence of the mall, and the freedom to blast my music or my podcasts. But it also put me on edge sometimes. It was haunted as heck and nobody really knows why. One morning I was in the middle of eating breakfast at my counter when I heard the carousel's sharp music echoing through the massive food court to set the scene. Our food court has this little play area on the opposite side from where I work. It's got all these kiddie rides that light up and play music and they are all motion activated so they light up when people walk by. Normally I wouldn't give the sound a second thought, but I knew for a fact that there wasn't supposed to be anybody else in the mall at this hour. And there's no way that I could have activated the ride sensor myself. As a person who regularly listened to scary stories while at work, I was immediately excited and anxious to see what might have happened. I turned on the oven and shut off the lights to every area but my workstation in order to tune in to the other end of the dark food court. It was nearly pitch black beyond the dim lights above my workstation, but I could see that the only thing out of place was that carousel, which was now spinning just enough for its creaking and scraping to find a rhythm. It wasn't until a second ride activated that I saw what really set it off. Illuminated by the headlights of one of the race car themed rides. It was clear to me that there was something standing behind the carousel. Something that was now facing my direction. The very defined silhouette of a security guard leaning around the central pillar of the ride. I had been standing and leaning around the corner of a doorway, essentially mirroring it, trying to keep hidden enough to watch uninterrupted. I did that until I started to feel uncomfortable with what I was looking at. If they are standing on a carousel, why aren't they spinning? If they are a security guard, why aren't they doing their rounds like they do during the day? Why were they trying to sneak around in the first place? I kept my eyes glued on the opposite end of the food court As I texted one of the security guards. I knew they confirmed my suspicions. I was the only person scheduled to be in the mall. I glanced down at my phone to re read the text. It maybe took a second. The moment I felt my gaze dropped, I stopped myself. But it was already too late. There was now something standing about five feet away from our counter, Right along the edge of my field of view. Fun fact about the counter of our shop, it's not tall. I, standing at 6 4, could essentially step over it. And my comically short sister who worked the day shift told me that she sometimes just leapt over the counter. After closing up shop, I was now essentially standing in an island with only one route of escape if this creep decided to jump the counter so good.

[A]

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[C]

So good.

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[B]

I took the opportunity while I had it and left the shop. It didn't end there though. My car was parked pretty far away, so I instead decided to run along the long service hall towards our stock room. It was the only other door in the mall that I could lock and unlock, so I pushed my back against the door and locked the deadbolt behind me. Feeling better behind a locked door, I sat there watching YouTube under the blindingly bright ceiling lights. I felt secure and safe in that room. Right up until I heard footsteps coming slowly down the hallway. They were slow and light, like a kid tiptoeing down their stairs on Christmas. It was almost playful. I held my breath and waited for the footsteps to pass by my door. It was like they stopped just before it and started to walk in place as if it knew where I was but couldn't get to me. It was then that I heard these clicking and flickering sounds. Some mix between the sound of key keys jingling and lights popping on and off. Whatever was outside that door, it was just having its fun. Scaring me. I'm sure a lot of people have had a nightmare where they were running away from a threat that always knew exactly where their prey was. It felt like that. But I knew this was real. Luckily, I also knew I was safe. And at one point or another I realized that the footsteps were gone. It wasn't until after I told the story to my co workers later that I realized I never had to reopen the deadbolt to exit that stock room. It was already unlocked. When I was about 10 or 11, I lived in a duplex house with my parents in Tennessee. It was a pretty good size. Three bedrooms, huge backyard and a good sized porch in front of my house. I was in a decent school and had many friends on that block. Plenty of good times were had and pleasant memories made. However, there is one memory that isn't pleasant at all. And it happened in that house. I always had a strange feeling in that house. That feeling you get when you think someone is watching you but you are by yourself. That sort of feeling. I always felt like someone or something was watching me from inside my closet in particular. But being a very self aware person my whole life, I figured that was just normal kid fears, something in a closet, something under the bed, etc. But what I couldn't explain was our lights would turn on and off by themselves a lot. And the TV would turn on and off a lot. My father tried explaining it, that it was the electricity or the house wiring. And it didn't seem to bother my parents. One day after school I got home and started the regular routine. I got a snack, turned on Nickelodeon and started doing homework in front of the TV on the floor. About 10 or so minutes into it, I heard something coming from my parents bedroom. Like a rustling. I knew my parents weren't home from work yet. It was still pretty early in the afternoon and their cars weren't in the driveway. For all I knew it could have been an intruder. And I was a skinny little boy at the time. Instead of getting a neighbor, I started walking toward the bedroom. I then noticed the rustling noise was coming from their bedroom. They had the master bedroom of course, and I found that odd. What was happening in the bathroom? Like if it was a robber, why would they be in the bathroom? I get to the bedroom door which was open. But before I step in I said.

[D]

Mom?

[B]

Dad, is that you? I knew it couldn't be them, but that's just what came out. Then it happened. I heard what sounded like a cackle, like a rotten snicker. And then what I can only describe as an old hag's voice. It repeated back my words only in a mocking fashion. Mom? Dad, is that you? Then it cackled Again. At this point I think I'm dreaming and tears start to well up in my eyes. I figured I was about to get jump scared or shocked. So I walked toward the bathroom thinking I would wake up at the jolt. I got to the bathroom and I saw nothing. Nothing but a bunch of bathroom items knocked on the floor and into the sink. I turned and started to run out and I tripped on the doorway and fell on my chest. Now I really think I'm dreaming and I start crying, calling for my mom, that kind of thing. It felt like I was on the floor for an hour, but it was probably not even one minute. I got up, looked behind me once more, still see nothing, and ran to the living room to get my homework and went outside on the porch, not going back inside until whatever parent got home first. When I told them, they chalked it up to being a dream that I probably dozed off watching TV and just had a vivid dream alright. But the thing is, I don't remember waking up that day. The day just went on into the evening and then into the night where I probably didn't get much sleep then. Nothing to that magnitude happened to me in that house after and we ended up moving a year or so later. I'm older now, but still to this day I am uneasy being in bathrooms because if I ever heard that voice again, I don't know what I would do. I would probably have a heart attack. The voice was that nasty. I hated that house. This is a night I'll always look back on and ask myself, what if I hadn't decided to do what I actually did? It was a night during the autumn season. I bring this up because it's important to know that it was dark out in the early parts of the evening. It's also important to note that the weather was cold enough to the point where we didn't have any windows or doors open in the house. So this night started off with my parents leaving to go to some dinner party, a regular thing with them. They have a lot of friends and get invited to a lot of events. I was often left home alone and I loved it. I loved the peace, the freedom to do as I pleased and the freedom to eat what I pleased, when I pleased. The night started like any other night like this. I was enjoying the peace, watching TV and at around 6 o' clock or so I decided to make something to eat. I don't remember what I had. All I know is I didn't order anything because I know I didn't deal with any delivery people that night and certainly wasn't expecting anyone to come to my house. So I'm just finishing up my food, throwing away my trash, and putting whatever silverware in the sink afterwards. I just randomly decided to look outside the window of my front door, which was closed and locked. I do that sort of thing often. Not for any particular reason. I just get curious. We live in a pretty safe neighborhood. Nothing ever really happens, and it's to the point where you hardly ever hear any sirens going off anyway. I just look outside from my front door that has a window on it so that you can see the outside before you open it. I wasn't expecting to see anything, and I wasn't doing this to investigate any kind of noise or anything. But when I look outside, I see a man walking up to my porch carrying something in each hand in plastic grocery bags at his sides, and a running car in my street. I didn't really hear the car approach, and even if I did, I would just assume it was a neighbor's car running. But I am seeing what looks like a guy who's here to make some kind of delivery, and I didn't order anything, especially not anything you would carry in plastic shopping bags. I also noticed that the running car in the street had a driver in it while this guy was walking up my path to my porch. What kind of delivery requires two delivery guys? It only took a split second for me to see that this isn't a delivery where they have got the wrong address. My doors and windows were all locked, so I wasn't really worried just yet, Just cautiously curious as to what I'm currently seeing. So the guy walking up my path stops about three steps away from my porch and just stands there for a few seconds. It's dark out and I can't really see his face. I know that it's a man from his height and build, but I can't identify anything distinctive about him. After standing still for a few seconds, he turns around and almost runs to the running car with a driver inside it and gets in the passenger side. I'm guessing he saw me look out my door and realized his cover and plan was blown before he could do anything. After watching him talk to the guy driving for maybe a minute, they take off down the street. It's now that the realization of this whole thing hits me hard. Clearly they were robbers looking to break in, steal whatever valuables they could find, and get away as fast as possible. Why my house when it's smack dab in the middle of the street? With plenty of neighbors as potential witnesses. Why my house when it's nothing fancy and looks no different from any other house around here? And what made them think no one would hear them attempting to break in with what I assume were tools in the bags that the man was carrying? I was honestly unsure what to do at this point. I knew calling my overprotective parents wouldn't help. Not to mention I wouldn't feel safer if they came home or anything. I'm a fairly muscular guy, so I'm pretty confident I could defend myself if the need ever presented itself. I knew calling 911 would be a mistake. After all, they're gone. I don't feel in danger. I can't identify them, and even if I could, they technically didn't do anything illegal, even though I'm fairly certain they weren't delivery guys. From the facts I mentioned earlier, I doubt a 911 operator would think otherwise. I decided to call my best friend and get his opinion. He believed my story and was rightfully concerned for me and skeptical of what I should do as well. It wasn't until after I told him the story that it occurred to me that we keep a non emergency police line written on the side of our fridge and I decided to call that. I thanked my friend and told him that I would update him later. We had this non emergency police phone number written down after looking it up because there was a time where we needed the police, but not for an emergency. Even though this was a safe neighborhood and nothing ever really happened, there was a day where these two crazy guys were going door to door asking for money. One of them wasn't wearing shoes and the other guy said he needed money to buy his friend's shoes. My dad, who answered the door during this moment, slammed the door in their faces and watched them go to the other houses on our street. He looked up a non emergency local police number and called it to report them. They arrived on our street without sirens and found the two men going to houses asking for money and arrested them. So we kept this number in our fridge just in case we ever needed it again and I needed it now. I spoke with a nice woman and told her what had just happened. She asked me a few questions like what were they wearing, what kind of car were they driving, etc. I explained that this all happened pretty quick and I wasn't paying much attention to those sort of things. Stupid, I know, but I was a little stunned in the moment from just happening to see a stranger come up to my door carrying bags. I told her that I didn't think I'm in any danger yet and if anything else happened I would call 911. But because I was worried that they may be trying to break into another nearby house, I asked her if there were any police patrolling the area, if they could just inspect my nearby streets just in case. She gladly agreed and thanked me for calling this number and not 911 as she agreed that this wasn't an emergency. I just went back to sitting in front of the TV for the rest of the night. I couldn't focus on any show or movie after that. Too many racing thoughts and too many questions as well as the fear of whether or not they will come back. My parents eventually came home and I

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[B]

told them the whole story. They were shocked and worried now too, but commended me for how I handled this. My dad agreed with my theory that the two men were watching houses looking for ones they presumed were empty and decided on ours since there was no car in the driveway and no one had exited it in several hours. But when the man walking up to our door saw my face looking out the door window, he panicked and decided to bail. I'd be lying if I told you there was tapping on our windows that night after we went to sleep.

[E]

Sleep.

[B]

Nope. That was it. No further suspicious activities, no follow up call from the police. Nothing. Nothing like this ever happened again and it never made me feel uncomfortable to be alone ever again. But I often wonder what would have happened if I didn't decide to look out my door when I did. Would I have had to fight off robbers? Did they have weapons just in case? I guess I'll never know. Before my brother had moved out of state, we would frequently go hiking together. One of our favorite spots was out by a river that was about 15 minutes from our house. By the time this took place, he had already moved and I had not gone hiking. I don't normally hike by myself, but it had been a nice day and I wanted to get some fresh air. For reference, I am a female and I was around 19 at the time. The Drive to the river was beautiful. I lived in the suburbs of my city, so it was not long before I passed the last of the houses and some businesses that were completely surrounded by vegetation. They got thicker the closer that you got to the river. Once I got to the parking lot, I parked my car, got my backpack, locked my car doors and started walking towards the river which was just a short walk from the parking lot. The parking lot was fairly large for being a recreational area and could fit at least 50 vehicles. But there were only a few cars there that day. I passed the restroom building and some trash cans on my right and could see some campers by the river a bit out towards my left. They had been at least 30 yards away from me. There is a walking trail that runs alongside the river that we would normally use views that I was heading towards. Once I got closer to the river, I decided to turn right to start my hike instead of going left because I did not want to disrupt the campers. Soon after I started walking alongside the river, I heard a voice call out to me behind me and I turned around to see who it was. It looked to be an older man, about late 40s to early 50s. You. He was walking up to me from the campsite and asked if I had a smoke. I had never really been a smoker, so I told him that I was sorry and I did not. I glanced behind him and noticed that it looked like they had been more than just some campers. It looked like they had been living there. He said no worries. I gave a polite smile, turned back around and continued on my hike. After going about 30 to 40, 45 minutes, it had set in that I was hiking alone and I suddenly no longer felt safe. I stopped to drink some water and also got my pocket knife out to hold in my hand in case I came across an animal or something. It had been getting a little warm so I had taken my jacket off as well and held that over my arm which had concealed the pocket knife. I backtracked almost to where I had started and noticed that the older man had started to walk towards me again and called out to me. I stopped to talk to him to see what he needed. To my surprise, he had asked me if I wanted to go hang out with them. I told him I couldn't and I had to get back home. I started to walk away and he had asked for my number and grabbed my tank top. I told him that I was sorry and I was not interested and pulled away. He kept holding on to me. My tank top bunched up in his hand for a few more seconds. It felt like minutes and it seemed like he had been considering something before letting me go. I was terrified, but had been glad that I had my pocket knife in my hand in case he tried any anything drastic. I speed walked back to my car running. Once I was close enough I had gotten in my car, immediately, locked my doors and got out of there as fast as I could. I don't know what would have happened if I stayed with them or what that man's intentions were, but I have never hiked alone since. I have started taking a supplement known as Lion's Mane over the past few months. It's supposed to help with brain function and improve memory. I'm pleasantly surprised by how well it's been working for me because lately I've been remembering a lot of events from my early childhood when I was around 4 to 6 years old with a surprising amount of detail. A lot of them are good memories, but one in particular stands out to me. When I was younger, my parents would always take the whole family out to a small town in Colorado to go on vacation. We loved the atmosphere of small towns and wide open mountain ranges and this place was our regular travel spot. Now when I say small, I mean that this town is home to about 300 people. It got its start as a mining town in the late 1800s and the families of those miners generally stuck around and their descendants still inhabit the town to this day. Everybody knows everybody in this town and people knew mine family because we were regular visitors and we owned a few acres of land on the edge of the town. I can recall one vacation in particular. It was around the start of winter so my parents had taken my brother and I there on one of our school breaks. My grandparents came to join us and I remember having a great time going on walks with the whole family and playing with the new toys my grandparents had gotten me. One of the toys they got me was a little remote control ATV with a toy man sitting on top of it wearing a helmet and a biker jacket. I think that toy is the reason this memory stands out to me for reasons that you will soon understand. On that vacation we took a walk around the less populated parts of town because this was a town that seemed to come up out of nowhere in the middle of the mountains. There were plenty of walking trails and scenic routes to explore and I would always take walks with my family when we visited. One of our favorite routes included a bridge that overlooked a steep valley and the scenery looking off that bridge was absolutely beautiful. When we got to that point in the walk where we approached the bridge, there was a man sitting there with his back rested on against the guardrails of the bridge. Now remember that toy I mentioned earlier? This man was also wearing a helmet and a biker jacket just like my toy. I remember thinking this was really cool and I said something to him like you look just like my toy. Immediately my mom said something to the effect of oh honey, don't bother that man, he's tired and needs to rest. I didn't think much of that because I was a very over talkative kid and I was used to my parents telling me not to bother strangers. My dad chimed in saying something about how he knows this guy and how he was going to stop and talk to him for a bit. He told us that we should all go on ahead with the walk and that he would catch up to us later after he was done talking to the guy. I didn't think much of this this either because like I said, everybody knows everybody in this small town. My mom grabbed both me and my brother by the hand and practically dragged us past the man and onto the rest of the walk. This is the point where I thought something felt weird because it seemed like my mom was in a hurry for no reason. I asked her who that man was and my mom just told me that it was a friend of Min my dad's and that he'll be back later. I put the whole thing out of my mind quickly and enjoyed the rest of our walk. Only when my dad met back up with us at the cabin we were staying in did I think about it again and I asked my dad who the man was. He told me something about how it was just an old friend who lived here and we never talked about it again after that. Here we are now, nearly two decades later, and this memory pops into my mind today when I see a kid in my apartment complex playing with a similar toy to the one that my grandparents had gotten me. I remembered those nice vacations and how much I enjoyed looking off into the vast space of the mountains and valleys. I remembered playing with that toy ATV in the backyard of that vacation cabin, showing my grandparents all of the cool tricks I could do with it. And I remembered that man sitting on the bridge and how my mom was in such a hurry to get on with the walk while my dad stayed behind to talk to the guy. Suddenly that memory didn't quite feel right. Something was off. I kept thinking about it through the rest of this morning, wondering why My mom was to so insistent that we move on, wondering how my dad could have possibly recognized the man when his head and face were completely covered by a helmet. I texted my dad asking him, do you remember that time we were on vacation in Colorado and you ran into one of your friends sitting on a bridge that we were walking on? It suddenly popped into my head and I remember it being kind of a weird situation. What happened there? At this point, I was pretty sure I already knew the answer to that question. I just got off the phone with my dad about an hour ago. He called me after seeing my text. He said he didn't think that I would even remember that happening, but that he thinks about it all the time and that he often worried about whether my brother and I understood what was going on. In that moment. He explained the entire thing to me and my suspicions were confirmed. While we were taking one of our usual walks, we came up to a bridge and my parents saw that man sitting there leaning against the bridge, or to put it more accurately, that man's body. My parents were alarmed when I immediately tried to talk to the body about my new toy. So my dad quickly came up with the idea to say that he knows the guy and that he would meet us later because he wanted to talk to the man. In reality, he had never met the man before in his life. He just wanted to check to see if the man still had a pulse and call 911 about the situation. This next part is what made my dad feel extremely uncomfortable and still makes him feel queasy thinking about it today. Today he didn't want my brother and I to understand what was actually going on. So in order to conceal the fact that this man was probably no longer alive, he sat down next to the body and started talking to it. He had to sit right next to this man's body and carry on a one sided conversation with it until we were out of earshot. At that point, he checked the man's pulse and confirmed. Confirmed what? He already knew that resting biker would be resting forever. This was before cell phones were very common and even then there would have been no way to get a signal in an isolated town like this. He ran back to town, called the county sheriff from a landline and ran back to the bridge to wait for them to arrive. While my dad was waiting there, he looked around to try to figure out what happened. And it wasn't hard to tell. The bridge had started to get icy because it was the start of winter and this man must have been taking the curb onto the bridge a little too quickly. My dad looked over the edge of the bridge and sure enough, there was a motorcycle at the bottom of the valley. The man had crashed, probably been injured very badly, and had propped himself up hoping that help would arrive. My family did come across him, but not soon enough. Looking back on it, we never took that walking path again in all the times we vacationed there. In the future, I think my dad wanted to avoid it, both because the memory of having to talk to a body and pretend it was alive made him feel sick, and because he didn't want my brother and I remembering the situation and figuring out what actually happened. One Fourth of July weekend in 2011, a buddy of mine that I'll refer to as Todd Todd ended up in a pretty precarious situation. What follows is the story that he told me. It was supposed to be a fun weekend up the hill and in the woods at Todd's friend Troy's cabin. Troy was to introduce Todd to a girl he also invited over, so naturally Todd was looking forward to some devious fun for the holiday weekend. As luck had it, Todd and his new date clicked and soon found themselves downstairs for some alone time. Shortly after Todd and his date disappeared downstairs, Troy decided to go out for a little while. A little while later, as Todd and his date were getting into it, Troy returned to his cabin with some company. Upon hearing foreign voices upstairs, Todd went upstairs to see who was was there. To Todd's dismay, he found that Troy had brought home someone that he disliked, a guy named Ace. For the sake of this story. Seeing Ace, Todd got angry and an argument ensued between Todd and Troy while poor Ace stood awkwardly near the doorway, Hugh Troy's girlfriend entering only to stand next to Ace with a bewildered expression on her face. Todd had rushed upstairs in his boxers, at first thinking that it was just guys that had arrived initially, so he and Troy quickly went downstairs to argue further. As Todd and Troy's arguments diminished, Troy decided that he, his girlfriend and Ace would go night swimming at a nearby creek for a while to cool off. For whatever reason, Troy threw on Todd's shorts to swim in in which had Todd's keys, wallet and smokes in the pockets. Troy and his company had already been gone for a few minutes before Todd realized what had happened, so Todd and his date continued on downstairs until Troy, Ace and Troy's girlfriend returned to the cabin. Right as Todd heard them returning, though, he went upstairs to confront Troy, fuming, Todd demanded his shorts back while yelling about his stuff in the pockets. During Troy's swim as the two argued back and forth for a while, Troy's girlfriend, Todd's date, and Ace tried to pretty much blend with the wallpaper as Todd demanded that Troy take his shorts off. Then and there. Troy informed him that he would not be stripping down in front of everyone. That was when Ace cut in to have Troy's back, making the argument even worse. But Ace knew that Todd had quite a reputation for fighting and not losing. So in order to sort of prove himself to Troy, he jumped right into that argument. After a little more arguing, Troy and his girlfriend left again in Todd's shorts. Ace stayed behind, though, for some reason, maybe because Troy had left without his backpack full of his personal and important items. Eventually, Todd and his date went back downstairs to go back at it. Ace, of course, stayed upstairs and kept company with Todd's pit bull. They all expected Troy and his girlfriend to return that night, at least for his backpack. But when everyone woke up the next morning, they realized that Troy and his girl girlfriend had not returned to the cabin. Everyone was puzzled as to what Troy was up to, but since Troy had left his cell phone in his backpack, they all just hung around the cabin and waited for Troy. The second night came and went with no word from Troy or his girlfriend. It wasn't until they got up on the third day with still no Troy that they finally really started to worry. Worry. Alarm bells were definitely going off for the trio. Todd decided to try and call Troy's girlfriend again like he had the previous day. When her phone seemed to be switched off that day, it finally rang and she picked up. Fear crept into her voice when she realized that Troy wasn't back at the cabin like she assumed he would have been. So her and Todd agreed agreed to start calling around to see if they could track down Troy. But no one had heard from Troy at all. Next, a panicking Todd called a few friends up to the isolated cabin to help search the nearby woods for Troy. Not a single trace of Troy was found. It was Todd who made the decision to call Troy's girlfriend and have her report Troy missing. She did just that.

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But when asked of Troy's last known whereabouts, she gave them the honest answer. She told them that Troy was last seen at his cabin having a heated argument with Todd. The problem with that was that Todd had a pretty well known reputation for fighting. At this point in which the following events took place. Troy had been missing for three days, so he was declared law at that point. Apparently the cops decided they should take it seriously. The following Morning, Todd, his date and Ace were fast asleep, only to be startled awake to the sounds of both the front door being kicked in and people running around seemingly on the roof. The SWAT team flooded in, subduing the trio inside. At one point, one of the SWAT officers officer said I will kill you and I will kill the dog. Upon hearing that, Ace suddenly popped his face up from the floor and exclaimed, why would you do that? Of course, the dog did not get hurt at all. What came next was the trio getting questioned by a couple of detectives portraying in the usual good cop bad cop scenario. Unfortunately for Todd though, he was the last person seen with Troy and they were arguing. Couple that with Todd's reputation for fighting and well, that made Todd the number one and only suspect in Troy's disappearance. It also didn't help that the detectives had found some clothing left by the hot tub. And some of the clothing had drops of blood on it. Though Todd insisted that he didn't even know whose clothes they were. Search and rescue came in next to comb the surrounding woods for clues to Troy's whereabouts. They searched for hours while Todd, Ace and Todd's date were still being questioned, but they focused mainly on Todd. After a couple of hours of interrogation, Todd finally got irritated and insisted that since Troy had been missing for for three days, at that point he could either be dead or alive. But they should be focusing their efforts on finding Troy. Oblivious to Todd and company was the fact that search and rescue had located Troy deep in the woods and hours away from his cabin. Troy was found passed out on a large rock, naked and just hours away from his demise. The next thing that Todd, his date, Ace and the detectives heard was the sound of the search and rescue helicopter's chopper blades cutting through the air and getting closer to the cabin. As they peered out the door, they saw the approaching chopper with Troy suspended in a blue diaper like thing from it. The chopper was looking for a safe place to lower Troy enough for emergency ground personnel to be able to receive reach him. As the smoke was still clearing on the whole situation. A couple of days later, Todd was informed about the facts that led up to Troy's disappearance. Apparently, Troy and his girlfriend left the cabin on the night he vanished to simply cool off after the argument with a nice walk in the woods that surrounded the cabin. But right after they had left for the walk, Troy's girlfriend had stolen his debit card. Shortly after setting out on their walk, Troy and his girlfriend got into an argument themselves. They got separated after that and Troy's girlfriend ended up walking herself back to the main road where she had called a ride, leaving Troy in the woods and assuming that he would find his way back to the cabin. So basically, Troy's girlfriend turned her phone off for the next couple of days in order to avoid Troy's angry phone calls about his debit card while she partied the whole time. When she did finally turn her phone back on, she received Todd's concerned call about Troy. She was shocked to learn that Troy had been missing for the last couple of days. Troy ended up being relatively okay considering the circumstances. Todd ended up moving out of state date shortly after, which pretty much dissolved the friendship. As far as Ace, Todd's date, and Troy's girlfriend, well, they're in the wind, I guess you could say. I'm almost positive though, that none of the people involved in this story will ever be able to forget about the events that took place over those fateful three days at the cab.

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